U.S. PIRG - Transportationhttp://uspirg.org/topics/transportation
enGroups Sue Trump Admin. for Risking Americans’ Health by Suspending Transportation Clean Air Safeguardshttp://uspirg.org/news/usp/groups-sue-trump-admin-risking-americans%E2%80%99-health-suspending-transportation-clean-air
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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<span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2017-07-31T00:00:00-04:00">Monday, July 31, 2017</span>
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<div class="field field-name-field-author-bio field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/staff/usp/matthew-casale">Matthew Casale</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<p>Contact:<br />
NRDC, Jake Thompson, 202-289-2387, <a href="mailto:jthompson@nrdc.org">jthompson@nrdc.org</a><br />
SELC and Clean Air Carolina, Claudine McElwain , 434-977-4090, <a href="mailto:cmcelwain@selcva.org">cmcelwain@selcva.org<br /></a>U.S. PIRG, Matthew Casale, 617-747-4314, <a href="mailto:mcasale@pirg.org">mcasale@pirg.org</a> </p>
<p><strong>WASHINGTON, D.C.</strong> — The Trump administration put Americans’ health at risk by abruptly suspending a federal safeguard intended to curb a major source of climate-changing emissions, the pollution from cars and trucks on the national highways, according to a lawsuit filed today.</p>
<p>The Natural Resources Defense Council, U.S. PIRG, and the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Clean Air Carolina, are suing the Federal Highway Administration today for illegally suspending the clean air standard this year, and are seeking its immediate reinstatement.</p>
<p>“The Trump administration broke the law by hitting the brakes on sensible transportation clear air standards. We need them to protect our health today and to reduce climate chaos tomorrow,” said Deron Lovaas, NRDC senior policy adviser.</p>
<p>Trip Pollard, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said, “This move is one of many recent examples of the White House and its agencies unlawfully ignoring procedures as it systematically attempts to remove environmental protections and suppress collection of vital climate change data.”</p>
<p>The standard was designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions –including carbon pollution – from major highway transportation sources. That could, in turn, help slow climate change—already seen in rising seas, stronger storms and poorer air quality—and reduce ground-level ozone and other harmful pollutants that worsen respiratory illnesses such as asthma.</p>
<p>The standard also could drive communities nationwide to provide smarter, cleaner transportation options, including public transportation, carpooling, vanpooling, and safer streets for walking and biking.</p>
<p>“Soaring car and truck traffic in our transportation system generates an enormous amount of harmful emissions that pollute the air we breathe and contributes to global climate change,” said Matthew Casale, U.S. PIRG transportation advocate. “This clean air standard would require state and local governments to change course and take more seriously the need for investment in cleaner modes of transportation.”</p>
<p>June Blotnick, executive director of Clean Air Carolina, said. “In the Southeast groups like ours have long battled poor air quality and soaring greenhouse gas emissions. The GHG measure was meant to usher in smarter 21st Century transportation options for our communities. It will help put us on the right road to protect our children, and all future generations, from dangerous climate change and unhealthy air.”</p>
<p>Amanda Eaken, director of transportation and climate at NRDC, added: “The U.S. needs to curb greenhouse gas emissions from one of the largest contributors to climate change – our transportation sector. That will help Americans breathe easier.”</p>
<p>The groups filed their lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, arguing that the Trump administration ignored requirements under the federal Administrative Procedure Act when it suspended the transportation greenhouse gas standard. The suit asks the court to invalidate the suspension, meaning that the standard would go into immediate effect.</p>
<p>The Highway Administration in 2014 began developing new standards under the 2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21<sup>st</sup> Century Act, (MAP-21). In 2016, the agency issued transportation standards for safety and solicited public comment on whether and how to establish a standard for greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>Nine state departments of transportation, 24 metropolitan planning organizations, more than 100 cities, 67 members of Congress, more than 100 public interest organizations—including plaintiffs NRDC and U.S. PIRG—and almost 100,000 individuals commented in favor of a greenhouse gas standard.</p>
<p>The Highway Administration agreed with many of those comments and issued a final greenhouse gas standard on January 18, 2017.</p>
<p>But once in office, the Trump administration issued notices delaying the implementation of the standard and indefinitely suspending it on May 19.</p>
<p>Under it, roughly 400 state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations must track the annual amount (in tons) of carbon dioxide emitted from on-road vehicles traveling on the national highway system. They also must set two- and/or four-year emissions-reduction targets, with the first targets to be submitted to the Highway Administration by February 20, 2018.</p>
<p>The transportation sector was the largest single source of carbon pollution in 2016, representing 36.4% of all U.S. carbon emissions. America’s transportation system produces more greenhouse gas pollution than the entire economy of any other nation on earth except China, India and Russia. U.S. transportation emissions are thus significant on a global scale.</p>
<p>Also, on-road vehicles are responsible for 38 percent of U.S. emissions of nitrogen oxides and 14 percent of U.S. emissions of volatile organic compounds, which in turn contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, commonly known as smog.</p>
<p>These pollutants worsen air quality and exposure to them is associated with higher rates of respiratory disease, preterm birth, childhood cancer, and premature death. People living or working near major highways—especially children, elderly adults, and individuals with preexisting health conditions—are particularly at risk, science shows.</p>
<p>The lawsuit is here: <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/transportation-ghg-lawsuit.pdf">https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/transportation-ghg-lawsuit.pdf</a></p>
<p>A blog by NRDC’s Deron Lovaas and Amanda Eaken is here: <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/amanda-eaken/were-suing-defend-key-transportation-rule">https://www.nrdc.org/experts/amanda-eaken/were-suing-defend-key-transportation-rule</a></p>
<p>More from the Southern Environmental Law Center here: <a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/news-and-press/news-feed">https://www.southernenvironment.org/news-and-press/news-feed</a></p>
<p>A 2016 poll showing broad support for the clean air transportation standard is here: <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/attitudesairpollutionfuelefficiency.pdf">https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/attitudesairpollutionfuelefficiency.pdf</a></p>
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<p><em>The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Bozeman, Montana; and Beijing. Visit us at <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.nrdc.org">www.nrdc.org</a></span> and follow us on Twitter <span style="text-decoration: underline;">@NRDC</span>.</em></p>
<p><em>The Southern Environmental Law Center is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. With nine offices across the region (Charlottesville, VA; Chapel Hill, NC; Atlanta, GA; Charleston, SC; Washington, DC; Birmingham, AL; Nashville, TN; Asheville, NC; and Richmond, VA), SELC is widely recognized as the Southeast’s foremost environmental organization and regional leader. SELC works on a full range of environmental issues to protect the South’s natural resources and the health and well-being of all the people in our region. <a href="http://www.SouthernEnvironment.org">www.SouthernEnvironment.org</a></em></p>
<p><em>Clean Air Carolina is a statewide nonprofit advocacy group based in Charlotte, NC with a satellite office in the Triangle. Our mission is to ensure cleaner air quality for all North Carolinians through education and advocacy and by working with our partners to reduce sources of pollution. Major initiatives include AirKeepers Citizen Science Program, Medical Advocates for Healthy Air, and Clear the Air for Kids.</em></p>
<p><em>U.S. PIRG is the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations that stand up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society. On the web at <a href="http://www.uspirg.org">www.uspirg.org</a>.</em></p>
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<a href="/topics/transportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Transportation</a>
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<a href="/issues/usp/21st-century-transportation">21st Century Transportation</a> </div>
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<a href="/issues/usp/stop-highway-boondoggles">Stop Highway Boondoggles</a> </div>
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<p>The Trump administration put Americans’ health at risk by abruptly suspending a federal safeguard intended to curb a major source of climate-changing emissions, the pollution from cars and trucks on the national highways, according to a lawsuit filed today. The Natural Resources Defense Council, U.S. PIRG, and the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Clean Air Carolina, are suing the Federal Highway Administration for illegally suspending the clean air standard this year, and are seeking its immediate reinstatement.</p>
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Mon, 31 Jul 2017 21:13:18 +0000tmccann56941 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/news/usp/groups-sue-trump-admin-risking-americans%E2%80%99-health-suspending-transportation-clean-air#commentsWith States Pledging to Comply with Goals of Paris Agreement, New Report Finds $2.9 Billion in Volkswagen Settlement Funds Could Help Accelerate All Electric Transportation Revolutionhttp://uspirg.org/news/usp/states-pledging-comply-goals-paris-agreement-new-report-finds-29-billion-volkswagen
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For Immediate Release
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<span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2017-07-05T00:00:00-04:00">Wednesday, July 5, 2017</span>
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<div class="field field-name-field-author-bio field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/staff/usp/matthew-casale">Matthew Casale</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<p dir="ltr">A new report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund finds that $2.9 billion from the Volkswagen (VW) settlement is headed to states to help clean up the country’s transportation system and strongly recommends using the funds to purchase electric vehicle fast charging stations for highways along with an aggressive expansion of all-electric transit buses to replace aging, dirty, diesel buses. The report finds that states throughout the country could supply between 4,350 and 8,700 additional fast charging stations, significantly improving the nation’s electric infrastructure, and could purchase over 3,000 all-electric, zero-emissions buses, reducing dangerous pollution and saving money, all while accelerating market transformation to an all-electric transportation system. </p>
<p dir="ltr">With the Trump administration’s announcement that the U.S. will be exiting the Paris Climate Agreement, states have vowed to step up, many pledging to comply with the goals of the agreement on their own. Much of that work will need to be focused on the transportation sector, which accounts for nearly 30% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“The VW settlement money presents state governments with an historic opportunity to help clean up our transportation system and accelerate the transition to a cleaner, healthier, 21st century transportation network,” said Matthew Casale, U.S. PIRG transportation advocate. “This money can be used to significantly advance our climate goals, but we must make sure it is not squandered on dirty, outdated technologies like diesel and natural gas instead of all-electric options that can help save lives and protect the planet.” he added.</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/871306/download">terms of the VW settlement</a>, supplemented by a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-12/documents/30literpartialconsentdecree.pdf">second settlement agreement</a>, agreed to by VW and the Department of Justice, VW will pay a total of up to $22 billion in damages for their role in violating federal clean air laws by selling more than half-a-million vehicles with its “clean diesel” marketing that actually emitted up to 40 times the legal limit of dangerous NOx pollution. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Of the civil damages outlined in the settlement, most of the money VW is required to spend will go toward compensating affected consumers. Another $4.9 billion will be divided into two separate funds to mitigate the environmental damages VW caused. Of that $4.9 billion, $2.9 billion will be placed in an Environmental Mitigation Trust (EMT) and sent directly to states based on the number of affected vehicles in that state.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The new report recommends that states use the maximum allowable amount of EMT funds, 15 percent, on the purchase and installation of fast charging stations for the state’s highways. Such chargers can fully charge a zero-emissions, all-electric vehicle in fewer than 30 minutes. “Greater installation of electric vehicle charging stations has a direct and substantial correlation on further personal EV adoption,” said Casale. “Investing in fast charging stations helps ease consumers’ fears of running out of juice while on the road, which remains one of the biggest impediments to electric vehicle adoption, even as the technology and range continue to improve and costs continue to decrease,” he remarked.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The report further recommends using the remaining EMT funds, 85 percent, to purchase all-electric transit buses. The report’s analysis is based, in part, on the fact that the most unlinked passenger trips are taken on transit buses, more than any other mode of public transit. The report finds, therefore, that investing in all-electric transit buses would reduce inhalation of toxic fumes for the greatest possible number of people over the broadest possible area, relative to investment in other modes. The report finds that such widespread public exposure has the potential to further accelerate the market transformation to all-electric vehicles, a key component of future success fighting air pollution and combating global warming.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Investment of VW settlement funds in all-electric buses can decrease toxic air pollution that makes us sick and contributes to dangerous global warming, all while increasing public awareness of zero-emissions electric vehicles and the substantial health and environmental benefits they can provide. This will in turn prompt additional transformation of the current marketplace, increasing benefits for years to come,” said Casale. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The remaining $2 billion in VW settlement funds will be put into a Zero Emission Vehicle trust for actions intended to increase the sales, use, and adoption of electric vehicles. VW will propose how to spend those funds and the EPA (or CARB in California) will approve the plan. Complimentary use of the ZEV funds is possible.</p>
<p dir="ltr">States may also apply for matching funds through the federal Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program.</p>
<p dir="ltr">You can read the report <a href="http://uspirg.org/reports/usp/deceit-transformation">here</a>. </p>
<p dir="ltr">-30-</p>
<p dir="ltr">U.S. PIRG is a federation of state based groups that stand up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society. For decades, we’ve stood up for consumers, countering the influence of big banks, insurers, chemical manufacturers and other powerful special interests.</p>
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<a href="/topics/transportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Transportation</a>
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<a href="/issues/usp/21st-century-transportation">21st Century Transportation</a>
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Report Recommends States Use Funds to Purchase Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Stations and All Electric Transit Buses
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U.S. PIRG Education Fund
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<p dir="ltr">A new report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund finds that $2.9 billion from the Volkswagen (VW) settlement is headed to states to help clean up the country’s transportation system and strongly recommends using the funds to purchase electric vehicle fast charging stations for highways along with an aggressive expansion of all-electric transit buses to replace aging, dirty, diesel buses. The report finds that states throughout the country could supply between 4,350 and 8,700 additional fast charging stations, significantly improving the nation’s electric infrastructure, and could purchase over 3,000 all-electric, zero-emissions buses, reducing dangerous pollution and saving money, all while accelerating market transformation to an all-electric transportation system. </p>
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Wed, 05 Jul 2017 13:31:12 +0000mcasale56611 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/news/usp/states-pledging-comply-goals-paris-agreement-new-report-finds-29-billion-volkswagen#commentsFrom Deceit to Transformationhttp://uspirg.org/reports/usp/deceit-transformation
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U.S. PIRG Education Fund
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<span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2017-07-05T00:00:00-04:00">Wednesday, July 5, 2017</span>
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<a href="/news/usp/states-pledging-comply-goals-paris-agreement-new-report-finds-29-billion-volkswagen">With States Pledging to Comply with Goals of Paris Agreement, New Report Finds $2.9 Billion in Volkswagen Settlement Funds Could Help Accelerate All Electric Transportation Revolution</a>
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<div class="field field-name-field-report-file field-type-file field-label-hidden">
<span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png" /> <a href="http://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/USP%20National%20VW%20Report_0.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=1843880" title="USP National VW Report.pdf">Download the Full Report</a></span>
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<p dir="ltr">Volkswagen (VW) perpetuated a fraud on the American people, deceiving consumers into believing that they were getting the best possible combination of performance and sustainability. But VW’s promises were nothing more than lies that significantly harmed our collective health and the health of our environment. As a result of the settlements that followed this fraud, an Environmental Mitigation Trust (EMT) was set up with $2.9 billion dollars to be distributed to states to reduce transportation emissions. In effect, VW’s deceit now represents an historic opportunity to drastically reduce harmful pollution that makes us sick and destroys our planet, while also providing an essential down payment toward the transition to a clean and modern 21st century transportation system.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This future, however, is not assured.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There remains a real risk that these funds will be wasted on outdated and polluting technologies, including those that rely on diesel and natural gas, while foregoing the transition to clean, all-electric vehicles (EVs) and supporting infrastructure. Indeed, of the numerous possible uses outlined in the VW settlement, many allow for the replacement of older, dirty diesel technology with new, still dirty, diesel technology, compressed natural gas (CNG) or diesel-electric hybrids.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Relative to all-electric vehicles, diesel and natural gas produce significantly more tailpipe nitrogen oxides (NOx) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as more total emissions over their lifecycle. In fact, in 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans based on evidence that exposure increased the risk for lung cancer, highlighting the importance of transitioning away from diesel, in particular.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Accordingly, investing in diesel and natural gas technologies with VW settlement funds would represent a significant missed opportunity to accelerate the transformation to an all-electric, clean running transportation network that could help reduce illness, save lives and protect the planet. The VW settlement clearly envisions and encourages such a use. For instance, the EMT can be used to subsidize 100 percent of the purchase of clean, all-electric buses and accompanying charging infrastructure for use in public transit agencies throughout the country. Similarly, up to 15 percent of each state’s VW EMT funds may also be invested in the acquisition, installation, operation and maintenance of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including along the states’ highways. Placing these publicly available charging stations on government owned property would allow the state to take advantage of the 100 percent subsidy provided under the VW settlements, while reducing key impediments to the transition to an all-electric vehicle fleet. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Given the structure of the VW settlements and the available uses of the funds, the overwhelming need to reduce harmful emissions that make us sick and destroy the planet, along with the opportunity to accelerate a market transformation toward an electrified transportation system, this report recommends the maximum allowable amount (15 percent) be invested in fast charging electric vehicle infrastructure and the remaining amount (85 percent) be spent on new, all-electric transit buses to replace older, outdated diesel buses.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ensuring that the funds are used in this way has several distinct benefits including, but not limited to:</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Drastically reducing NOx, ground-level ozone (smog) and particulate matter to protect our health and environment;</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Significantly reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions;</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Reducing long-term fuel consumption, maintenance and operating costs of public fleet vehicles; </p>
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<p dir="ltr">Adding needed stability to the price of energy inputs for vehicles; and</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Increasing public awareness and adoption of electric vehicles as cleaner alternatives to traditional gas-powered vehicles.</p>
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How States Can Leverage Volkswagen Settlement Funds to Accelerate Progress to a Clean Transportation System
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Wed, 05 Jul 2017 13:26:32 +0000mcasale56606 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/reports/usp/deceit-transformation#commentsTrump Administration Proposes Cuts to Critical Transit Investment Programshttp://uspirg.org/blogs/blog/usp/trump-administration-proposes-cuts-critical-transit-investment-programs
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<a href="/blogs/usp/blog">Blog</a>
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<div class="field field-name-field-shared-post-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2017-04-27T00:00:00-04:00">Thursday, April 27, 2017</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-bio field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/staff/usp/matthew-casale">Matthew Casale</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<p dir="ltr">The Trump administration’s transportation priorities are becoming clearer and they are troubling. President Trump wants to build highways (and gut safety and environmental regulations) and seemingly plans to do so at the expense of public transit. His plan is a relic of the 1950s and is a step backwards in our efforts to build a transportation system that is cleaner, healthier, more accessible and equipped to build an economy for the 21st century. His plan means more cars on the road, more congestion, more crashes, and more pollution. </p>
<p>On April 4, President Trump <a href="https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/chao-says-infrastructure-plan-by-may-advocates-question-path-forward">spoke at a White House “town hall” meeting</a> for business executives, reportedly telling the executives in reference to the upcoming infrastructure plan: “We have to build roads. We have to build highways.” He stressed that the plan will focus on funding for projects that are shovel ready and will eliminate regulations that supposedly slow down construction projects (which are actually designed to promote the safety and mitigate the negative environmental impacts of projects).</p>
<p>The language used by President Trump is not encouraging. He only talked about building highways. There was not one mention of transit projects. On top of this disappointing rhetoric, <a href="http://t4america.org/2017/03/29/trump-admin-moving-end-transit-construction-program-tiger-immediately/">the Trump administration has proposed that congress immediately cut funding for transit construction projects for the rest of fiscal year 2017</a>, and cut funding to discretionary grant programs that support ready-to-go transit projects across the country.</p>
<p>The current continuing budget resolution expires on Friday, and congress needs to pass budgetary legislation in order to avoid another government shutdown. The administration has proposed that congress eliminate the popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program,which supports innovative projects, including multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional projects, which are difficult to fund through traditional federal programs. Eliminating the program would cut $499 million of desperately needed funding. The administration has also proposed cutting $447 million from the Transit New Starts program, the Federal Transit Administration’s primary grant program for funding major transit capital investments, including heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars and bus rapid transit. These are programs that the administration proposed eliminating in the fiscal year 2018 “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf">skinny budget</a>” released in March, but now they are on the immediate chopping block.</p>
<p>Since 2009, the <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/tiger">TIGER grant program</a> has provided a combined $5.1 billion to 421 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and tribal communities. For example, the city of Brownsville, Texas is receiving $10 million to rehabilitate a regional bus maintenance facility which will also serve as a new passenger transfer station, purchase eight hybrid transit replacement buses, and renovate bus stops to include sidewalks, curb ramps, and benches. The grant will also fund an innovative 2.4-mile long causeway which will be one of the longest dedicated pedestrian/bike bridge facilities of its kind in the United States and the first of its kind in Texas.</p>
<p>This project is part of a larger regional “Connecting Communities” effort to provide seamless regional and efficient connectivity through the metro areas around Brownsville. The bus system, which connects residents of the Rio Grande Valley, provides over <a href="http://riograndeguardian.com/brownsville-celebrates-10-million-tiger-transportation-grant/">3 million passenger trips per year</a>. The improvements made possible by the grant will help connect the region, reduce congestion, and reduce vehicle miles traveled. Overall, the project should have positive economic, health and lifestyle, and environmental impacts.</p>
<p>In 2012, about five hours north of Brownsville, the Houston area attempted to solve their regional connectivity problems through a different approach: highway expansion. It has not gone well. The region undertook a $2.8 billion project to widen the regularly congested Katy Freeway. The end product was a 26-lane highway, the widest in the world, on which travel times actually worsened considerably. By 2014, 85 percent of commutes along that highway took longer than they had in 2011. Morning commutes took more than 30 percent longer, and afternoon commutes took more than 50 percent longer. The region is no more connected than it was before, congestion has not been reduced, and the increased capacity of the highway brought more cars to road, doing nothing to help reduce total vehicle miles traveled or help the environment.</p>
<p>TIGER grants are essential because they support investment in smart transportation solutions, like in Brownsville, rather than the same old highway expansion projects that never seem to solve anything. Yet, despite the benefits we get from transit that we don’t get from highway expansions, our infrastructure spending is heavily skewed in favor of highways. <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/49910-Infrastructure.pdf">According to the Congressional Budget Office</a>, in 2014, 60% of public infrastructure dollars are spent on highways. Only around 20% is spent on mass transit. Historically, that ratio has been ever more skewed towards highways. Programs like TIGER were created to provide a unique opportunity to invest in rail and transit projects, because so much of the money allocated through the regular budget process goes to highways.</p>
<p>Likewise, the <a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/5309_Capital_Investment_Grant_Fact_Sheet.pdf">Transit New Starts program</a> has allowed communities across the country to fund much needed transit investments. For example, with financing from the New Starts Program, the <a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/OR_Portland_Milwaukee_Profile_FY17_0.pdf">Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon</a> (TriMet) was able to complete the construction of a double-track light rail transit (LRT) extension of the existing Yellow Line from the downtown Portland transit mall across the Willamette River, to southeast Portland, the city of Milwaukie, and urbanized areas of Clackamas County. The project represented a continuation of Portland’s many investments in a broad range of transportation options designed to produce a vibrant economy, improved public health, and enhanced quality of life for their residents. </p>
<p>The project included a new multimodal bridge across the Willamette River, expansion of an existing maintenance facility, bike and pedestrian improvements and the acquisition of 18 light rail vehicles. The project will link Downtown Portland with educational institutions, dense urban neighborhoods, and emerging growth areas in East Portland and Milwaukie. The project is expected to serve 22,800 weekday trips, providing faster and more reliable transportation times to downtown Portland for thousands who otherwise would have had to drive. </p>
<p>By taking vehicles off the road, the project also advances the goals of Portland’s <a href="//www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/531984">Climate Action Plan</a>, which aims to reduce carbon pollution from transportation by 78 percent by 2050 and daily passenger-miles of travel in vehicles by 64 percent by 2050. In contrast, the Portland area is also considering the widening of a section of Interstate 5 that runs along the Willamette River opposite downtown Portland, expected to cost a whopping $450 million (nearly $100 million dollars more than the LRT expansion). Unlike the LRT extension, the widening of I-5 would incentivize additional driving, which would run counter to Portland’s Climate Action Plan and longstanding policy to invest in transit options and grow a community less dependent on the car. On top of all of that, the widening is unlikely to even reduce congestion because, as the Houston area learned with the Katy Freeway, increased highway capacity typically brings more cars to the road, negating whatever positive effect the expansion was meant to have on congestion.</p>
<p>The Trump administration believes localities, not the federal government, should fund “localized” projects like those in Portland and Brownsville, ignoring the fact that grants under these programs are only awarded to projects that will have a significant national or regional impact. Without the supplementary funding available through TIGER grants and the New Starts program, localities are unlikely to have the ability to complete the same types of capital projects. These programs are some of the only ways that local communities can get sufficient funding directly. Without them, they are at the mercy of state DOTs and what they want to, or are able to, fund (which often ends up leading to projects like the I-5 or Katy Freeway expansions). First, state DOT money often comes from specific legislation (whether state or federal) that requires highway spending. Second, highway expansions are often popular proposals because they appear to have immediate value. Although we now know that highway expansions do not solve congestion problems, many state decision-makers have held onto the outdated idea that more and wider highways are the answer to our transportation woes (see the U.S. PIRG Education Fund Highway Boondoggle series of reports for a more in depth discussion of this issue: <a href="http://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/cpn/USN-041817-A3-REPORT/highway-boondoggles-3.html">http://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/cpn/USN-041817-A3-REPORT/highway-boondoggles-3.html</a>; <a href="http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles-2">http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles-2</a>; <a href="http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles">http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles</a>).Without discretionary funding programs like TIGER and New Starts, we are less likely to be able to meet our federal, regional, or local transportation goals. </p>
<p>Cutting these programs is a step in the wrong direction. The projects in Portland and Brownsville are just two examples of hundreds of similar projects throughout the country funded by these grant programs having positive economic, health and lifestyle, and environmental effects. In order to build a transportation system that meets our 21st Century needs,we should be doing everything we can to invest in smart transit solutions. Protecting TIGER and New Starts, which have been popular and successful, would be a good start.</p>
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Thu, 27 Apr 2017 16:56:27 +0000mcasale55226 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/blogs/blog/usp/trump-administration-proposes-cuts-critical-transit-investment-programs#commentsNew Study Identifies Nine of the Worst Highway Projects Across the Country, $10 Billion in Taxpayer Dollars Wastedhttp://uspirg.org/news/usp/new-study-identifies-nine-worst-highway-projects-across-country-10-billion-taxpayer-dollars
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For Immediate Release
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<span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2017-04-18T00:00:00-04:00">Tuesday, April 18, 2017</span>
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<p class="normal">A new report by the United States Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) Education Fund and Frontier Group identifies nine of the most wasteful highway expansion projects across the country, slated to collectively cost at least $10 billion. This third iteration of the highway boondoggles report details how despite America’s mounting repair and maintenance backlog, and in defiance of America’s changing transportation needs, federal, state and local governments across the country continue to spend billions each year on expanding highways. The report disputes the claims used to justify these investments and argues that the projects are outright boondoggles.</p>
<p class="normal">“Prioritizing highway expansion over the repair and maintenance of existing systems is using tomorrow’s money to pay for yesterday’s policies,” said Lauren Aragon, 21st Century Transportation Fellow at U.S. PIRG Education Fund and co-author of the report. “Those past policies, however, have been proven to be ineffective at decreasing congestion, pollution and traffic, and instead add strain to already limited budgets, while hurting public health and the environment,” she noted.</p>
<p class="normal">While $10 billion is scheduled to be wasted on these highway boondoggles, the most recent <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi/no10/defbr16.cfm">federal data</a> show the country has 56,000 structurally deficient bridges, about 9 percent of all bridges. Moreover, a <a href="http://www.tripnet.org/docs/Fact_Sheet_National.pdf">recent analysis</a> of the nation’s highways reported that 21 percent had poor pavement condition. Once maintenance on these structures is deferred, the future cost to repair and rehabilitate roads and bridges back to good condition grows significantly, adding to mounting transportation infrastructure costs.<span style="font-size: 13.008px;"> </span></p>
<p class="normal">“Americans are fed up with their commutes, but decades of research shows us that more and wider highways aren't the answer,” said Tony Dutzik, senior policy analyst with Frontier Group and co-author of the report. “The $27 billion we currently spend each year on highway expansion can’t fix congestion, but it could make a big difference in fixing our streets and transit systems, and in giving Americans more transportation choices in their daily lives.”</p>
<p class="normal">The study recommends that states:</p>
<ol><li>Invest in transportation solutions that reduce the (need) for costly and disruptive highway expansion projects by focusing investments on public transportation, land-use policy, road pricing measures and technological measures that work to help drivers avoid peak-time traffic.</li>
<li>Adopt fix-it-first policies that invest in repair and maintenance of existing road, transit and rail systems and stop the continued deference of these actions to future dates, further increasing a mounting maintenance and repair backlog of billions of dollars;</li>
<li>Use the latest transportation data and require full cost-benefit comparisons for highway projects, including future maintenance and repair needs. This includes fully evaluating potential public-private partnerships.</li>
<li>Revise transportation forecasting models and use up-to-date travel information, reflecting a range of potential future trends for housing and transportation and incorporating the potential impacts of shifts to other modes of transportation, including public transportation, rail, biking and walking, as well as newer options such as ridesharing, carsharing, and bikesharing.</li>
<li>Give priority funding to transportation projects that reduce growth in vehicle-miles traveled, to account for the public health, environmental and climate benefits as well as the reduced need to increase road capacity in the future.</li>
<li>Invest in research and data collection to better track, and more aptly react, to ongoing shifts in how people travel.</li>
</ol><p class="normal">Some of the egregious examples of wasteful projects discussed in the report include:</p>
<ul><li><strong style="font-size: 13.008px;">I-405 Widening, California, $1.9 billion – </strong><span style="font-size: 13.008px;">Widening one of the nation’s busiest stretches of Interstate highway in Orange County would draw new traffic to the road, create new bottlenecks, and replicate the failed approach to congestion relief of an earlier I-405 widening project in Los Angeles. </span></li>
<li><strong style="font-size: 13.008px;">I-73, South Carolina, $1.3 billion – </strong><span style="font-size: 13.008px;">A proposal for a new Interstate linking I-95 to Myrtle Beach is unnecessary, environmentally damaging, and would divert money from a growing crisis in road maintenance in the Palmetto State</span></li>
<li><strong style="font-size: 13.008px;">I-75 North Truck Lanes, Georgia, $2 billion – </strong><span style="font-size: 13.008px;">Construction of the nation’s first long-haul, truck-only lanes would represent a giveaway to the trucking industry, while undermining a rail-based approach to freight movement in Georgia that is intended to get trucks off the roads.</span></li>
<li><strong style="font-size: 13.008px;">I-30 Widening, Arkansas, $632 million –</strong><span style="font-size: 13.008px;"> Widening a highway that cuts through the heart of Little Rock would impede the city’s downtown revival while potentially causing as many transportation problems as it solves.</span></li>
</ul><p class="normal">The report also looks back at the 23 highway boondoggles identified in the <a href="http://uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles">2014</a> and <a href="http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles-2">2016</a> versions of this report. Since the original reports came out, several states have revisited these projects, ultimately deciding that the money should be spent elsewhere. For example, the Mon-Fayette Expressway was put on hold due to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s mounting debt and lack of public support. In California, the Tesoro extension was denied on the ground that it would threaten local water resources.</p>
<p class="normal">“Investing in new and wider highways when we already have a backlog of maintenance and repair for our existing infrastructure system is irresponsible,” said Aragon. </p>
<p class="normal">The report can be read <a href="http://uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles-3">here</a>.</p>
<p class="normal" align="center">###</p>
<p class="normal" align="center"><em>U.S. PIRG Educa</em><em>tion Fund works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation.</em></p>
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<a href="/issues/usp/21st-century-transportation">21st Century Transportation</a>
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U.S. PIRG Education Fund
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<p>A new report U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group identifies nine of the most wasteful highway expansion projects across the country, slated to collectively cost at least $10 billion. This third iteration of the highway boondoggles report details how despite America’s mounting repair and maintenance backlog, and in defiance of America’s changing transportation needs, federal, state and local governments across the country continue to spend billions each year on expanding highways.</p>
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Mon, 17 Apr 2017 18:59:46 +0000tmccann54756 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/news/usp/new-study-identifies-nine-worst-highway-projects-across-country-10-billion-taxpayer-dollars#commentsHighway Boondoggles 3http://uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles-3
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Released by:
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U.S. PIRG Education Fund &amp; Frontier Group
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Release date:
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<span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2017-04-18T00:00:00-04:00">Tuesday, April 18, 2017</span>
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<a href="/news/usp/new-study-identifies-nine-worst-highway-projects-across-country-10-billion-taxpayer-dollars">New Study Identifies Nine of the Worst Highway Projects Across the Country, $10 Billion in Taxpayer Dollars Wasted</a>
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<span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png" /> <a href="http://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/US_Boondoggles3_screen_v5.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=2837147">US_Boondoggles3_screen_v5.pdf</a></span>
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<h1>Executive Summary</h1>
<p>America’s infrastructure is in rough shape. Many of our roads, bridges and transit systems are aging and in need of repair.</p>
<p>Yet, year after year, state and local governments propose billions of dollars’ worth of new and expanded highways that often do little to reduce congestion or address real transportation challenges, while diverting scarce funding from infrastructure repairs and 21<sup>st</sup> century transportation priorities. </p>
<p><strong>Nine proposed highway projects across the country — slated to cost at least $10 billion</strong> —<strong> exemplify the need for a fresh approach to transportation planning and spending.</strong> These projects, some originally proposed decades ago, double down on the failed transportation strategies of the past while causing harm to local communities and absorbing scarce transportation dollars. They are but a sampling of many questionable highway projects nationwide that could cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars to build, and even more money over the course of upcoming decades to maintain.</p>
<p>Local, state and federal decision-makers should reevaluate the need for the projects profiled in this report, along with others that no longer make sense in an era of changing transportation needs. Instead, they should focus on real, long-term transportation solutions, including maintaining our existing roads and bridges, repairing potholes, and investing in public transportation, bicycling, walking and other options.</p>
<p><strong>Americans’ transportation needs are changing. America’s transportation spending priorities aren’t.</strong></p>
<ul><li><strong>State governments continue to spend billions on highway expansion projects that fail to solve congestion</strong>.
<ul><li>Expanding highways draws new drivers to the roads, often resulting in a rapid return to the congested conditions the expansion projects were originally supposed to solve.</li>
<li>In Texas, for example, a $2.8 billion project widened Houston’s Katy Freeway to 26 lanes, making it one of the widest freeways in the world. But, just a few years after completion, morning commute times were 30 percent longer and afternoon commute times were 50 percent longer.<a title="" href="#_edn1">[i]</a> And in California, the $1.6 billion widening of Interstate 405 in Los Angeles delivered little benefit in terms of reducing rush-hour congestion.<a title="" href="#_edn2">[ii]</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><strong style="font-size: 13.008px;">Highway expansion is not a national transportation priority.</strong><span style="font-size: 13.008px;"> </span><br /><ul style="font-size: 13.008px;"><li>Highway expansion is often pitched as a way to deal with projected future increases in travel. Over the last decade, however, growth in driving has slowed, with the average American in 2016 driving fewer miles than he or she did in 2002.<a title="" href="#_edn3">[iii]</a></li>
<li>Forecasts of future growth in driving are often inflated. Americans are now expected to drive nearly a trillion fewer miles per year in 2020 than federal officials projected in 2004.<a title="" href="#_edn4">[iv]</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><strong style="font-size: 13.008px;">Highway expansion absorbs money that can be used for more pressing needs. </strong><span style="font-size: 13.008px;"> </span><br /><ul style="font-size: 13.008px;"><li>In 2012, federal, state and local governments spent $27.2 billion on expanding the highway system — consuming more than one out of every four capital dollars spent on the nation’s road network.<a title="" href="#_edn5">[v]</a></li>
<li>Continued spending on highway expansion diverts funds that could be used to address the nation’s roughly half trillion-dollar backlog of road and bridge repair needs and its $90 billion backlog of transit repair needs, as well as to expand transportation choices for Americans through investments in public transportation.<a title="" href="#_edn6">[vi]</a> </li>
</ul></li>
</ul><p><strong>States continue to spend billions of dollars on new or expanded highways that fail to address real problems with our transportation system, or that pose serious harm to surrounding communities. </strong>In some cases, officials are proposing to tack expensive highway expansions onto necessary repair and reconstruction projects, while other projects represent entirely new construction. Many of these projects began or were first proposed years or decades ago, or are based on long-outdated data.</p>
<p><strong>Questionable projects poised to absorb billions of scarce transportation dollars include:</strong></p>
<ul><li><strong>I-405 Widening, California, $1.9 billion</strong> — Widening one of the nation’s busiest stretches of Interstate highway in Orange County would draw new traffic to the road, create new bottlenecks, and replicate the failed approach to congestion relief of an earlier I-405 widening project in Los Angeles. </li>
<li><strong>I-4 “Beyond the Ultimate,” Florida, $2.2 billion —</strong> The construction of tolled express lanes along 40 miles of highway has been pitched, in part, as a way to avoid bottlenecks created by <em>another </em>$2 billion highway expansion project now underway in Orlando.</li>
<li><strong>I-75 North Truck Lanes, Georgia, $2 billion</strong> — Construction of the nation’s first long-haul, truck-only lanes would represent a giveaway to the trucking industry, while undermining a rail-based approach to freight movement in Georgia that is intended to get trucks off the roads.</li>
<li><strong>I-84 Expansion, Connecticut, $715 million</strong> — Proposed widening of I-84 in Danbury directs state funds to a road where traffic has barely increased in the last decade, even amid growing demand for better rail service and severe state budget woes.</li>
<li><strong>State Routes 53/120, Illinois, $2.3 billion</strong> — A proposed toll road in the Chicago suburbs would jeopardize the environment and lacks a viable funding plan.</li>
<li><strong>I-66 “Inside the Beltway” Expansion, Virginia, $140 million</strong> — A bold plan to reimagine a suburban D.C. highway and expand access to transportation options is accompanied by a politically motivated highway widening project.</li>
<li><strong>I-30 Widening, Arkansas, $632 million</strong> — Widening a highway that cuts through the heart of Little Rock would impede the city’s downtown revival while potentially causing as many transportation problems as it solves. </li>
<li><strong>I-73, South Carolina, $1.3 billion —</strong> A proposal for a new Interstate linking I-95 to Myrtle Beach is unnecessary, environmentally damaging, and would divert money from a growing crisis in road maintenance in the Palmetto State.</li>
<li><strong>Madison Beltline Widening, $1 billion</strong> — The budget-strapped state of Wisconsin, which has already delayed other highway projects, continues to consider widening a highway around Madison, even as demands grow for more and better public transportation.</li>
</ul><p><strong>Previous <em>Highway Boondoggles</em> reports in 2014 and 2016 identified 23 dubious highway expansion projects costing an estimated $37 billion that merited additional scrutiny.</strong> <strong>Of those projects,</strong> <strong>six have been canceled, are on hold, or are under significant revision. Among projects put on hold or facing new scrutiny are the following:</strong></p>
<ul><li>An <strong>extension to an existing toll road in southern California</strong> was denied on the grounds that it and a future additional extension would threaten local water resources.</li>
<li>Plans for the <strong>Dallas Trinity Parkway</strong> are uncertain after community-led opposition to the proposed toll road resulted in a new, downscaled design and new questions about how the project would be funded.</li>
<li>The <strong>Illiana Expressway</strong> tollway in Indiana and Illinois was suspended amid budget concerns and has been the subject of court challenges that leave its future in severe doubt.</li>
<li>A proposal to <strong>widen I-94 in Milwaukee</strong> was denied funding by lawmakers and the governor due to the state budget crunch and following strong opposition from community advocacy groups. The land-use group 1000 Friends of Wisconsin found that the state Department of Transportation systematically overestimated traffic projections to justify the expansion.</li>
<li>The future of the proposed <strong>Mon-Fayette Expressway</strong> outside Pittsburgh is in question as the region’s planning agency is reconsidering the project and local officials are looking into the possibility of repurposing the funds currently dedicated toward its construction. </li>
</ul><p><strong>Federal, state and local governments should stop or downsize unnecessary or low-priority highway projects to free up resources for pressing transportation priorities. </strong></p>
<p>Specifically, policy-makers should:</p>
<ul><li><strong>Invest in transportation solutions that reduce the need for costly and disruptive highway expansion projects.</strong> Investments in public transportation, changes in land-use policy, road pricing measures, and technological measures that help drivers avoid peak-time traffic, for example, can often address congestion more cheaply and effectively than highway expansion.</li>
<li><strong>Adopt fix-it-first policies</strong> that reorient transportation funding away from newer and wider highways and toward repair of existing roads and investment in other transportation options.</li>
<li><strong>Use the latest transportation data and require full cost-benefit comparisons, including future maintenance needs</strong>, to evaluate all proposed new and expanded highways. This includes projects proposed as public-private partnerships.</li>
<li><strong>Revise transportation forecasting models</strong> to ensure that all evaluations of proposed projects use up-to-date travel information, reflect a range of potential future trends for housing and transportation demand, and incorporate the potential impacts of shifts in other transportation options, including public transit, biking and walking, along with newer options such as carsharing, bikesharing and ridesharing.</li>
<li><strong>Give funding priority to transportation projects that reduce growth in vehicle-miles traveled</strong>, to account for the public health, environmental and climate benefits resulting from reduced driving.</li>
<li><strong>Invest in research and data collection</strong> to better track and react to ongoing shifts in how people travel.<br />
</li>
</ul><div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ednref1">[i]</a> Jay Blazek Crossley, “It Took 51% More Time to Drive Out Katy Freeway in 2014 than in 2011,” <em>Houston Tomorrow</em>, 26 May 2015, archived at web.archive.org/web/20151221162251/<a href="http://www.houstontomorrow.org/livability/story/it-took-51-more-time-to-drive-out-katy-freeway-in-2014-than-2011/;">http://www.houstontomorrow.org/livability/story/it-took-51-more-time-to-...</a> Joe Cortright, “Reducing Congestion: Katy Didn’t,” <em>City Observatory</em>, 16 December 2015, archived at web.archive.org/web/20151221162414/<a href="http://cityobservatory.org/reducing-congestion-katy-didnt/">http://cityobservatory.org/reducing-congestion-katy-didnt/</a>.</p>
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<p><a title="" href="#_ednref2">[ii]</a> Adam Nagourney, “Los Angeles Drivers on the 405 Ask: Was $1.6 Billion Worth It?” <em>New York Times</em>, 20 December 2016. </p>
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<p><a title="" href="#_ednref3">[iii]</a> Vehicle-miles traveled data from U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, <em>Highway Statistics</em> series of reports (through 2015), and U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, <em>Traffic Volume Trends: January 2017 </em>(2016 data); population data from U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey and intercensal estimates.</p>
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<p><a title="" href="#_ednref4">[iv]</a> U.S. Department of Transportation, <em>2015 Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges and Transit: Conditions and Performance Report to Congress</em>, December 2016; U.S. Department of Transportation, <em>2004 Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges and Transit: Conditions and Performance Report to Congress</em>, February 2006.</p>
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<p><a title="" href="#_ednref5">[v]</a> U.S. Department of Transportation, <em>2015 Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges and Transit: Conditions and Performance Report to Congress</em>, December 2016.</p>
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<p><a title="" href="#_ednref6">[vi]</a> Ibid.</p>
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Big Projects. Bigger Price Tags. Limited Benefits.
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Mon, 17 Apr 2017 18:48:36 +0000tmccann54751 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles-3#commentsPIRG to FTC: Used Cars Subject To Recalls Are Not “Safe”http://uspirg.org/blogs/blog/usp/pirg-ftc-used-cars-subject-recalls-are-not-%E2%80%9Csafe%E2%80%9D
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<a href="/blogs/usp/blog">Blog</a>
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<div class="field field-name-field-shared-post-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2017-03-28T00:00:00-04:00">Tuesday, March 28, 2017</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-bio field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/staff/usp/michael-landis">Michael Landis</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<p>You’d think that a car dealer couldn’t say that a used car is “safe” if that car is subject to a safety recall (like the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/27/business/takata-airbag-recall-crisis.html?_r=0" target="_blank">Takata airbag recall</a> or the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/business/13-deaths-untold-heartache-from-gm-defect.html" target="_blank">GM ignition switch recall</a>). But, because of a <a href="//www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2016/01/gm-jim-koons-management-lithia-motors-inc-settle-ftc-actions" target="_blank">recent action</a> taken by the Federal Trade Commission, used car dealers can do just that. To fix this obvious problem, U.S. PIRG and other leading car safety advocacy groups—<a href="http://www.carconsumers.org/" target="_blank">Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS)</a> and the <a href="http://www.autosafety.org/" target="_blank">Center for Auto Safety</a>—have sued the FTC and are asking the court to invalidate the FTC’s action. (The complaint we filed is available <a href="http://uspirg.org/resources/usp/copy-us-pirgs-complaint-lawsuit-over-ftc-action-unsafe-cars-0" target="_blank">here</a>.) Although not parties to this particular lawsuit, MASSPIRG, ConnPIRG, and CALPIRG have also conducted research and exposed the problem of <a href="http://masspirg.org/news/maf/consumer-groups-carmax-endangers-lives-massachusetts" target="_blank">used cars dealers selling unrepaired recalled cars</a>.</p>
<p>This all started when the FTC accused GM, Lithia Motors, and Jim Koons Management of touting how rigorously they inspected their cars but not disclosing that some of them were subject to unrepaired safety recalls. The parties agreed to a settlement that allows the companies to continue to say that their cars are “safe,” “repaired for safety issues,” or “subject to rigorous inspection” even if those used cars are subject to a pending safety defect recall. The only requirement is that the companies must give the buyer a written disclosure stating that the car “may” be subject to a recall.</p>
<p> But this disclosure is highly problematic because it creates confusion by directly contradicting any assertion that the car is “safe,” it doesn’t actually tell the consumer anything because the possibility <em>always</em> exists that a car <em>might</em> be subject to a safety recall, and it can be easily dismissed by dealers who can simply tell buyers that they are required to put it on all their cars.</p>
<p>The FTC’s action here should be nullified because the law requires the FTC to prevent unfair or deceptive acts or practices, not encourage them. Moreover, the FTC’s action is inconsistent with its own used car rule that explicitly prohibits used car dealers from <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/455.1" target="_blank">“misrepresent[ing] the mechanical condition of a used vehicle.”</a> For the safety of the millions of used car buyers, we hope that the court agrees.</p>
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<ul class="field field-name-field-term-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden">
<li class="field-item">
<a href="/topics/transportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Transportation</a> </li>
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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 15:40:08 +0000edm54036 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/blogs/blog/usp/pirg-ftc-used-cars-subject-recalls-are-not-%E2%80%9Csafe%E2%80%9D#commentsU.S. PIRG Statement on President Trump’s First Address to Congresshttp://uspirg.org/news/usp/us-pirg-statement-president-trump%E2%80%99s-first-address-congress
<div class="field field-name-field-newsrelease-status field-type-text field-label-hidden">
For Immediate Release
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-shared-post-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
<span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2017-03-01T00:00:00-05:00">Wednesday, March 1, 2017</span>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-author-bio field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/staff/usp/elise-orlick">Elise Orlick</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<p>WASHINGTON, DC -- President Trump gave his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, highlighting his legislative priorities for the coming year. His speech touched on issues ranging from the budget, infrastructure, and special interest influence in government.</p>
<p><em><strong>On Consumer Protection</strong></em></p>
<p>"While candidate Donald Trump campaigned against Wall Street and on behalf of ordinary Americans," said Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director, “Unfortunately President Trump's hirings and actions so far, including what he said tonight, leave us very concerned that his plan is now to help Congress dismantle hard-fought financial protections, including the successful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, enacted after the spectacular economic collapse just 8 years ago. Hang onto your wallets: consumers, savers, investors and taxpayers."</p>
<p><em><strong>On Ethics Reform</strong></em></p>
<p>“The right to know who is exercising their influence with elected officials is essential to a functioning democracy,” said Andre Delattre, Executive Director of U.S. PIRG. “The president has made references to this ideal throughout his campaign and first month in office, and in Tuesday’s speech; now is the time to take meaningful action and make it a reality. Ending shadow lobbying must be an integral part of this action.”</p>
<p><em><strong>On Transportation</strong></em></p>
<p>“In Tuesday night’s address, President Trump called for increased spending in our infrastructure,” said Lauren Aragon, Transportation Associate at U.S. PIRG. “More investment is necessary, but to achieve a holistic 21st century transportation system we must focus on critical public transit, biking, and walking infrastructure so that people have choices in how they get around, and are less dependent on burning dirty fossil fuels. At the same time, we need to concentrate on repairing our existing roads, bridges and transit system, which are suffering from lack of investment. This means moving away from spending billions of dollars on new and wider highways and instead using our limited resources on pressing needs like repairing our current system and investing in a multi-modal approach that will increase efficiency and clean up our transportation system.”</p>
<p><em><strong>On Tax and the Budget</strong></em></p>
<p>"Our tax code has been riddled with loopholes for far too long, allowing the biggest multinational corporations’ gaming and gimmicks to run amok at the expensive of small businesses and ordinary Americans," said Michelle Surka, Tax and Budget Advocate with U.S. PIRG. "Any tax plan President Trump and Congress agree on must put an end to offshore tax haven abuse and the mile-wide loopholes-- like earnings stripping and inversions-- that allow for and incentivize such tax avoidance. We have yet to see a proposal that adequately addresses these problems, and in fact, some members of Congress have started to suggest repealing hard-won rules that limited some of the worst of these tricks. We urge President Trump to close tax loopholes, protect ordinary tax payers from picking up the tab for the largest corporations, and not reward corporations for competing based on the wiliness of their tax attorneys rather than the value of their products and services." </p>
<p><em>###</em></p>
<p><em>U.S. PIRG, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, is a consumer group that stands up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-term-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-item even">
<a href="/topics/budget" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Budget</a> </div>
<div class="field-item odd">
<a href="/topics/consumer-protection" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Consumer Protection</a> </div>
<div class="field-item even">
<a href="/topics/democracy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Democracy</a> </div>
<div class="field-item odd">
<a href="/topics/financial-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Financial Reform</a> </div>
<div class="field-item even">
<a href="/topics/tax" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tax</a> </div>
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<a href="/topics/transportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Transportation</a> </div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-noderef-issues field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-item even">
<a href="/issues/usp/21st-century-transportation">21st Century Transportation</a> </div>
<div class="field-item odd">
<a href="/issues/usp/consumer-protection">Consumer Protection</a> </div>
<div class="field-item even">
<a href="/issues/usp/democracy-people">Democracy For The People</a> </div>
<div class="field-item odd">
<a href="/issues/usp/reining-wall-street-0">Reining in Wall Street</a> </div>
<div class="field-item even">
<a href="/issues/usp/stop-highway-boondoggles">Stop Highway Boondoggles</a> </div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-shared-organization field-type-text field-label-hidden">
U.S. PIRG
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-shared-summary field-type-text-long field-label-hidden">
<p>President Trump gave his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, highlighting his legislative priorities for the coming year. His speech touched on issues ranging from the budget, infrastructure, and special interest influence in government.</p>
</div>
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 16:00:00 +0000eorlick53781 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/news/usp/us-pirg-statement-president-trump%E2%80%99s-first-address-congress#commentsHow Volkswagen’s Deceit Could Help Accelerate an Electric Revolution in Transportationhttp://uspirg.org/blogs/make-vw-pay-blog/usp/how-volkswagen%E2%80%99s-deceit-could-help-accelerate-electric-revolution
<div class="field field-name-field-shared-blogref field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden">
<a href="/blogs/usp/make-vw-pay-blog">Make VW Pay Blog</a>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-shared-post-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2017-02-28T00:00:00-05:00">Tuesday, February 28, 2017</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<p>States could receive $2.7 billion to reduce pollution from transportation. </p>
<p>The payout is part of an agreement reached between the U.S. Department of Justice and Volkswagen after the carmaker was caught selling more than half a million diesel vehicles in the U.S. These vehicles polluted up to 40 times the legal limit of dangerous nitrogen oxides (NOx). The entire settlement is worth up to $14.7 billion and will help compensate consumers and clean up our nation’s transportation system.</p>
<p>Out of the total settlement, $2.7 billion will be distributed to the states specifically to reduce NOx pollution, a major component of diesel exhaust. As part of the settlement, states will be required to develop a plan for how the money will be used to reduce NOx emissions. NOx poses a serious threat to human health and has been <a href="https://www.epa.gov/no2-pollution/basic-information-about-no2" target="_blank">shown</a> to aggravate and even contribute to the development of respiratory illnesses. NOx is also a key component of smog, which has similar respiratory and health impacts and contributes to acid rain. In addition, diesel exhaust, which contains NOx, carbon dioxide (CO2), particulate matter, and other pollutants has been <a href="http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2012/pdfs/pr213_E.pdf">classified as a carcinogen</a> by the World Health Organization since 2012.</p>
<p>Given the unique challenges and opportunities in each state, the settlement leaves a good amount of flexibility in how the money may be used. That flexibility though presents its own challenges, opening up the possibility of squandering the money on older, dirtier technology like diesel and natural gas, while forgoing all-electric alternatives. Such a move would represent a massive missed opportunity to transition to a cleaner, healthier, and modern, all-electric system while only realizing marginal pollution reduction benefits. </p>
<p>Make no mistake, pollution from transportation is a major problem. <a href="http://lae.mit.edu/wordpress2/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/US-air-pollution-paper.pdf" target="_blank">MIT</a> estimates that each year, more than 50,000 people die prematurely from air pollution linked to transportation sources, more than the number of people that die each year from guns or in car collisions. And recently, transportation has become the largest domestic source of global warming emissions, surpassing power generation even though it often receives far more attention. In August 2016, federal <a href="http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/" target="_blank">data</a> from the U.S. Energy and Information Administration showed that the transportation sector had produced <a href="http://www.uspirg.org/news/usp/new-federal-data-show-transportation-sector-now-largest-source-carbon-pollution-united">more carbon pollution</a> than any other sector of the economy over the past 12 months, including the electric power, industrial, residential, and commercial sectors. </p>
<p>Transitioning to all-electric alternatives can reduce long-term costs, gas consumption and harmful pollution while bringing our outdated transportation system into the 21st century. Therefore, it is essential that these funds be invested wisely.</p>
<p>Already, <a href="http://www.connpirgedfund.org/reports/ctf/deceit-transformation">ConnPIRG Education Fund</a>, <a href="http://www.wispirgfoundation.org/reports/wip/deceit-transformation">WISPIRG Foundation</a>, and other groups have released reports detailing how the money can best be used. After careful analysis, we recommend that states spend the maximum allowable amount (15 percent) on fast charging electric stations across the state and the remaining funds on new, all-electric transit buses. </p>
<h2><strong>Why Charging Stations?</strong></h2>
<p>Volkswagen sold hundreds of thousands of polluting vehicles, so getting cleaner vehicles on the road is important to make up for the harm that VW has already caused. All-electric vehicles are as clean as they come with zero tailpipe emissions and far lower lifecycle emissions. Compared to a traditional gasoline car, emissions from electric vehicles are about <a href="http://www.environment.ucla.edu/media/files/BatteryElectricVehicleLCA2012-rh-ptd.pdf" target="_blank">50 percent less</a> over their lifecycle. </p>
<p><img alt="" class="media-image" typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/styles/large/public/USP_blog_electricbuscharging1.png?itok=Jd196IW9" /></p>
<p>Unfortunately, one of the biggest obstacles to greater electric vehicle adoption is “range anxiety” or the fear that one will run out of juice while driving. To overcome range anxiety, more electric charging stations are required. A study from <a href="https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/40660" target="_blank">Cornell University</a> showed that increasing the number of charging stations can speed electric vehicle adoption at near a one to one ratio; a 10 percent increase in electric charging stations would increase electric vehicle sales by 10.8 percent. Spending 15 percent of the funds on electric charging stations would buy enough fast charging stations in each state to represent a significant improvement to existing charging networks, since they are shockingly limited in many states. <strong>With these additional charging stations, it’s possible for many states to cover <em>their entire state highway system</em> with a fast charging station every 50 miles or less.</strong></p>
<p>In addition to the health, wellness, and environmental benefits, more electric vehicles is also good news for consumers – electric vehicles are significant money savers compared to their gas-powered counterparts. With lower fuel and maintenance costs, thousands of dollars in additional federal and state subsidies, and about half of the pollution of a traditional car, electric vehicles are a smart bet for consumers, communities, and states. Moreover, with technology continually improving, initial purchase costs continue to decrease. In fact, since 2010, the global average cost of an electric car battery fell 65 percent.</p>
<h2>Why All-Electric Transit Buses?</h2>
<p>For the remaining funds, replacing old diesel transit buses with new all-electric buses will offer some of the biggest pollution reductions. Under the terms of the settlement, states may cover 100 percent of the costs of these buses using VW settlement funds.</p>
<p>Moreover, buses are the most heavily used form of public transportation in the nation, responsible for 48.7 percent of unlinked passenger trips – more than any other mode. Given this, electrifying buses in our state is likely to have one of the biggest potential impacts on reducing pollution for thousands of commuters and residents alike.</p>
<p>Yet, the settlement leaves the door open to other alternatives including compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, hybrids, and even newer (but still dirty) diesel buses. While all of these buses will come with some pollution reductions compared to older, diesel buses, the most common type of transit bus, they pale in comparison to the emissions reductions from all-electric buses. </p>
<p>A CNG bus produces more than 140 metric tons of greenhouse gas and nearly 110 kilograms of NOx in tailpipe emissions annually. A hybrid bus also produces more than 100 metric tons of greenhouse gas and 20 kilograms of NOx in tailpipe emissions annually. <strong>Rather than eliminating tailpipe emissions, putting new CNG, diesel, or hybrid buses on the roads is <em>locking in more pollution</em> for the 10 to 15 years that bus is operational.</strong> In contrast, an all-electric bus produces zero tailpipe emissions and best supports existing clean air goals. As state electric grids become cleaner with more renewable energy coming online, electric buses will continue to get cleaner. The same cannot be said about CNG, diesel, or hybrids.</p>
<p><img alt="" class="media-image" typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/styles/large/public/USP_blog_electricbuscharging2.png?itok=Ox2fUPi3" /></p>
<p>Like electric cars, electric buses are also money savers. According to Proterra, one of the top manufacturers of electric buses, the savings from maintenance alone over the lifetime of an electric bus are more than $135,000. With fewer parts, and no need for oil changes or gas, these buses can save transit agencies a significant amount of money over time. </p>
<p>Many transit agencies are already heading towards electric buses, either by implementing them in regular service or piloting them on select routes. With the clear pollution reductions and cost savings, it’s not hard to see why. But with many transit agencies low on resources, making new capital investments is challenging; this money offers an opportunity to help get clean electric buses on our roads in the near-term. </p>
<p>States have no way of clawing back the unnecessary and damaging pollution that spewed into their air because of Volkswagen’s defeat devices. Therefore, we need to ensure that any money VW pays in settlements is invested in moving the transportation system toward a cleaner and cheaper future. Using 15 percent of the funds on expanding fast charging electric stations and 85 percent on all-electric buses will allow states throughout the country to realize that cheaper, cleaner future.</p>
</div>
<ul class="field field-name-field-term-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden">
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<a href="/topics/transportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Transportation</a> </li>
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Tue, 28 Feb 2017 20:30:40 +0000marites53731 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/blogs/make-vw-pay-blog/usp/how-volkswagen%E2%80%99s-deceit-could-help-accelerate-electric-revolution#commentsBillions in Transit Ballot Initiatives Get Green Light http://uspirg.org/news/usp/billions-transit-ballot-initiatives-get-green-light
<div class="field field-name-field-newsrelease-status field-type-text field-label-hidden">
Immediate Release
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-shared-post-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
<span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2016-11-15T00:00:00-05:00">Tuesday, November 15, 2016</span>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<p>This November’s election was packed with <a href="http://www.cfte.org/pages/2016_election_">transit-focused ballot questions</a>, and like in past years, investing in transit proved popular with voters. Overall, voters approved 34 of the 49 transit-related ballot measures worth a combined total $170 billion, marking the largest number of transit initiatives in an election in U.S. history. Particularly large and notable proposals include a half-cent sales tax increase to fund $120 billion in new light rail lines and extensions, multiple bus rapid transit (BRT) projects in Los Angeles, as well as a $54 billion proposal in Seattle to build 62 miles of new light rail, 37 new stations, and new BRT lines over the next 25 years.</p>
<p>“This election, yet again, affirms the public’s widespread desire for more and better public transit,” said John Olivieri, National Campaign Director for 21st Century Transportation at the United States Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG). “Transit remains a critical tool that improves mobility options for consumers, reduces dangerous pollution, and plays a key role in giving people healthy and active alternatives to gridlock. The public understands this and wants to see more,” he added.</p>
<p>Yet, despite the public’s continued desire to see greater investment in transit, historically transit has received only a small minority of funding at the federal level. Currently, only <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/45315">20 percent</a> of available federal transportation funds are invested in transit and just 1 percent of funds are invested in biking and walking infrastructure. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/45315">80 percent</a> of federal transportation dollars continue to be spent on roads.</p>
<p>“While many localities recognize the need to invest in transit, biking, and pedestrian solutions that can bring our transportation system into the 21st century, federal officials remain woefully behind the curve,” said Olivieri. “While it is great to see such widespread support of transit at the local level, the need for these measures speaks volumes about how out of sync federal decision makers are with the wants and needs of the American people,” he added. </p>
<p>The nation currently faces an <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/new-department-transportation-report-highway-transit-conditions-po">$86 billion</a> transit maintenance repair backlog, while <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi/no10/defbr15.cfm">data</a> from the Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory show that despite the large discrepancy at the federal level between investment in transit and spending on roads, the nation’s road system is in similarly bad shape. To date, more than 58,000 bridges remain structurally deficient. </p>
<p>“Despite the fact that roads receive 80 percent of available federal transportation dollars, both transit and roads continue to face enormous repair and maintenance backlogs,” said Lauren Aragon, Transportation Fellow at U.S. PIRG. “While the overall level of funding is important, how states spend the limited federal funding they receive can have even greater consequences but states continue to funnel road funding into new and wider highway projects, leaving the existing system to crumble. We need to fix what we have already built first,” she added. </p>
<p>A <a href="%22htt">2014 report</a> from Smart Growth America found that from 2009-2011, states spent 55 percent of available transportation dollars on expanding 1 percent of the current system, and the remaining 45 percent repairing and maintaining the other 99 percent. </p>
<p>“Getting our infrastructure right isn’t only about additional funding,” said Olivieri. “States waste billions on new and wider highway projects, many of which are outright boondoggles, while ignoring pressing repair and maintenance needs. These funds could be more effectively spent expanding access to transit, biking, and pedestrian options or repairing existing infrastructure,” he added. </p>
<p>More information on the true cost of roads can be found in a recent report by U.S. PIRG and Frontier Group, “<a href="http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/who-pays-roads">Who Pays for Roads?</a>”</p>
<p>More information on our flawed transportation spending priorities can be found in U.S. PIRG report, “<a href="http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles-2">Highway Boondoggles 2: Wasted Money and America’s Transportation Future</a>”.</p>
<p>More information on how our nation’s current federal and state transportation policies set us back in the fight against climate change can be found in the Frontier Group report, “<a href="http://www.uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/Frontier%20Group%20-%2050%20Steps%202016%5B1%5D_0.pdf">50 Steps Toward Carbon-Free Transportation: Rethinking U.S Transportation Policy to Fight Global Warming</a>.”</p>
<p>More information on the benefits of decreased driving can be found in a recent report by MassPIRG, “<a href="http://www.masspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/What's%20at%20Stake%20Report%20FINAL.pdf">What’s at Stake? How Decreasing Driving Miles in Massachusetts Will Save Lives, Money, Injuries and the Environment</a>.”</p>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-term-topics field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden">
<a href="/topics/transportation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Transportation</a>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-noderef-issues field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden">
<a href="/issues/usp/21st-century-transportation">21st Century Transportation</a>
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<div class="field field-name-field-shared-subtitle field-type-text field-label-hidden">
Affirms Widespread Public Desire for Multimodal Transportation Options, Need to Prioritize Transit at Federal Level
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<div class="field field-name-field-shared-organization field-type-text field-label-hidden">
U.S PIRG
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-shared-summary field-type-text-long field-label-hidden">
<p>This November’s election was packed with <a href="http://www.cfte.org/pages/2016_election_">transit-focused ballot questions</a>, and like in past years, investing in transit proved popular with voters. Overall, voters approved 34 of the 49 transit-related ballot measures worth a combined total $170 billion, marking the largest number of transit initiatives in an election in U.S. history. </p>
</div>
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 18:25:52 +0000jolivieri@pirg.org51666 at http://uspirg.orghttp://uspirg.org/news/usp/billions-transit-ballot-initiatives-get-green-light#comments